To round off the day yesterday, I was just putting the hatch covers down when I heard the distinctive sound of the coal boat coming. I looked out and sure enough I could see it coming towards us. I told Bryan and he came out and hailed the boat which pulled up alongside us and we bought 135 litres of diesel. The last time we topped up our fuel was when going into Alvechurch Marina in the middle of April.

We set off at 9 this morning, skies heavy with cloud and showers forecast, aiming to clear the Bosley locks. There are 12 single locks, rising 118 feet in one mile. The hills of the Peak District are becoming visible ahead of us.We found a nice open mooring though it is a little shallow and moored up and not one drop of rain fell. I'm sort of wanting it to rain to see if the mushroom Bryan dealt with is watertight. Need to get some spare screws/bolts before attempting the second one.